2010 Will Be Better

It has been a long time since I posted anything on my racing blog. It is not that I have lost interest in racing, just that some major forms of racing have lost interest in me, the long time racing fan.

NASCAR and other forms of major racing organizations have been courting the "New Fan" and forgetting about me and my fellow long time fans. This caused a temporary jump in interest in the sport. Increased attendance at races and sales of race items skyrocketed. But that was short lived.

The economy has had something to do with shrinking interest in auto racing, mainly NASCAR, but that is not the only reason. That "New Fan" that NASCAR courted, has moved on to some other fad. Some have stayed and will be long time fans. But a big chunk of that "New Fan" influx of fans have moved on.

There will be another influx of Danica Patrick fans that were never race fans, but are drawn to the news buzz of Danica mania. Some will stay and some will more on.

But the bottom line is the long time race fan. One that has been a fan for some time and will remain a fan for the rest of their life. That is the base of auto racing. That is who NASCAR and other forms of racing should not forget. I am hoping 2010 will be better for those fans.

Drivers and Their Sunglasses

I do not know what it is with race car drivers and their sunglasses. I was looking through some old slides of racing in the 1970's and found this picture of Tom Reffner and his cool sunglasses. Even back then, drivers had to have the cool shades.

Now days, just about every time a driver is interviewed on television, they have to put their sunglasses on. I know they must get some endorsement monies. But it is hard to tell who’s sunglasses they have on most of the time.

I do not know about you, but I like to see someone's eyes when they are talking to me or being interviewed on television. It is just polite or good manners. A few drivers do take off their sunglasses when being interviewed, but very few.

I am just not sure how far this endorsement fad will go. It started out by stating the manufacture of your race car. Then the drivers started getting their major sponsor into every interview. Small patches started appearing on the upper half of their driver's uniforms so they would show up on the head shots. Then the drivers had to take a drink of their drink sponsor's beverage before they could answer any question. Then the sunglasses started getting in on the act.

When will this all end? Will drivers strip down to their boxers to make sure we know Jockey is giving them underwear?

Daytona 500 – Local Boy Wins!

OK, lets get this out first. I am a fan of Matt Kenseth. I watched Matt “The Brat” Kenseth race at the local tracks around Wisconsin before he moved south. His win last Sunday in “The Great America Race” or the Daytona 500 or whatever they call it from year to year, was just plain great. He finally was in the right place at the right time.

Very few race fans from Wisconsin were not overjoyed that Matt won one of the biggest races on the NASCAR Cup schedule. Hell, from what I have been reading, very few drivers or crew in the NASCAR Cup garage were not happy to see Matt win. Well maybe Elliott Sadler was not too happy to see Matt win, but that is racing luck.

Maybe because Matt is from the Midwest and not from the south, he does not get the press or respect others do. Or maybe because Matt is not in your face type of driver others are, that he does not get the press or respect others do. Whatever the reason, maybe with a Championship and a Daytona 500 win, he will start to get more press and respect.

It might take some time to change. I say this because the big story from this year’s Daytona 500 was not so much Matt Kenseth winning the race as Dale Earnhardt Jr. screwing up again. Even in our local Wisconsin State Journal newspaper, that story almost received as much space as Matt’s win. And Matt is a local boy!

If I were Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s handler, friend, boss or whoever he is close to, I would sit him down and have a talk. I would talk and he would have to listen. Somebody needs to explain to him that he is not the center of the NASCAR universe. His fans and he might think that. And sometimes I think NASCAR thinks that, but he is not. He screwed up royally in this year’s Daytona 500. The “Big One” was not Brian Vickers fault. It was Dale Earnhardt Jr’s fault.

Junior has been racing long enough to know that you do not turn somebody around in front of the field at Daytona. Somebody could have been hurt. He screwed up and he should be man enough to say so. He lost a lot of respect from drivers, crew and fans last Sunday. If he would have said after the race that he screwed up and apologized to the other drivers and crew, he would have gained respect instead of losing it.

NASCAR is also at fault here too. They should have sat Junior in the pits for at least 5 laps. They did that in the Nationwide race the day before for actions that were not as blatant as Junior’s. Maybe they were afraid of a Junior Nation riot. Whatever they were thinking, they screwed up too.

NASCAR, it is called “tough love”. Just because Junior is NASCAR’s favorite son, does not mean he cannot be punished for his actions. If he is not punished for his actions, how will he ever learn? He will keep on making mistakes until he learns the right way.

NASCAR just needs to play fair. If they punish one driver for his actions on the race track, then they have to punish another driver for the same actions, even if his name is Dale Earnhardt Jr.

ARCA Racing

I have been semi-involved in an ARCA racing team for the last several years. In case you have not heard of ARCA, they are a stepping stone to NASCAR. They are also a racing series that uses the same cars as NASCAR Cup series used up until 2008. The car pictured with this post is my friend Tom Berte's race car. He has raced in ARCA over the last several years. Being on a race team at the ARCA level has given me insight on how a race team operates and what it takes to put a car on a track in race ready condition. It takes just the same amount of work to get an ARCA car ready as it does in any of the three NASCAR series. 

ARCA racing is very competitive racing. It is by far more relaxed than NASCAR. They have fewer races and travel less, but it is still intense racing. Take a look on Speed TV sometime as most of the races are broadcast. Or better yet, show up at an ARCA event. It will cost far less than NASCAR and you may see some of the future stars of NASCAR before they get a really big head.

About Me

My interest in racing began a very long time ago, not in a Galaxy far, far away, but right here in the good old USA. I have been a race fan since I moved off the Wisconsin farm, almost 50 years ago. My first stock car race I saw was at a local quarter mile dirt track in 1961, that is now paved, but still running every Saturday night during the summer in Wisconsin. I was hooked on the sounds, the close racing, the fans in the stands and V-8 rumble. Shortly after that great experience, I saw my first professional race, a USAC Indy car race at the legendary Milwaukee Mile. I wanted to see every race, but since I did not drive and my parents worked weekends, I had to depend on friends of my parents to take me to the races.

It was the summer of 1964 that I found a copy of Stock Car Racing in a hobby store and could not put it down. I purchased it and took it home to read cover to cover. I thought Fireball Roberts was the most fascinating man I had ever read about in my few years on this earth. I was hooked on NASCAR. My little HO slot car track road course was turned into an oval with 100, 200 and 400 lap races with one of the neighborhood kids. I have been a fan ever since.

Living in Wisconsin and being a race fan, you could not ignore Road America at Elkart Lake. When I finally could drive, I had to journey to the other Wisconsin legendary race track. Watching the early TransAM cars thunder down the hill into turn five was just plain spine chilling. I am not that old to have been to Road America in the early fifties to watch NASCAR race there, but I wish I could have been.

Being able to drive allowed me to travel to some of the most famous Wisconsin short tracks and others in the Midwest. There was; Wisconsin Dells, Columbus, La Crosse, Madison International, Slinger, Plover, Kaukuna, Angle Park, Rockford Speedway, just to name a few. In the Seventies and into the early eighties, you could find a stock car race 5-7 nights a week at a paved oval track someplace in Wisconsin. Drivers like Dick Trickle, Tom Reffner, Larry Detjens, and others were making a name for themselves not only in Wisconsin, but around the Midwest. The best drivers in the nation would travel to Wisconsin to race. Bobby Allison, Mark Martin, Ed Howel, and many others would make the trek to Wisconsin to race against our best. It was the golden era of short track racing.

My first NASCAR race was at Michigan International Speedway. I still can hear and feel the first time they took the green flag and 43 cars thundered down the back straight into turn three. It sill gives me goose bumps just thinking about it. Bobby Allison and Larry Peterson were my favorite drivers. The first year we did not camp and stayed at a Holiday Inn, the Wood Brothers crew (and maybe Larry Peterson too) were staying there too.

I have seen all types of racing, but over the years, stock car racing has been my favorite. I do still enjoy Road America and it's beautiful rolling hills, the great track and great track food. I still try to get to local tracks although not as often as the seventies when gas was far cheaper.

I am not just a fan that sits in front of the television. I have worked on local short track cars besides sitting in the stands. I have worked on my friend's ARCA car and have been over the wall a few times pitting his ARCA car. I have attended three stock car driving schools on the Milwaukee Mile and the FastTrack three day school at Charlotte. It took months to wipe the smile off my face after the Charlotte school.

I am not telling you all of this to brag or show off, just to give you my background to my blog and writing. I am not a resent race fan who may move on to something else when that becomes popular. I have been and will be a race fan until they close the lid on the casket.

I do have other interests other than racing. Maybe too many, but that is another story. I am married to Ann and live with two cats. I am a photographer and sell some of my prints. After the farm, I grew up in a restaurant that my parents owned, so do enjoy cooking.

Welcome To The Racing Curmudgeon

Welcome to the Racing Curmudgeon blog. I have been a racing fan for over 45 years and have just a few opinions on all types of racing. I will be posting as I have time, mostly at least weekly. I also write travel articles and am a photographer. You can see some of my photographs on my Photography Web Site: www.markbuehl.com

Thanks for stopping by and reading my racing blog.